Cafe Buzz
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Welcome to the Cafe Buzz! We started the "Buzz" section here at the Celtic Café as a means of sharing some of the news and information posted to our associated mail lists, which are devoted mostly (but not exclusively) to Irish dance and Celtic music. For more detailed information, and to join in the discussion about "anything Celtic," please sign up for our main list, large and very international: Celtic Cafe Yahoo Group Got any "newsy tidbits"? E-mail us via the Contact Form. |
A benefit for the children of the tsunami, the CD release of Hands Across the Water on Dec. 20 brings together those in the world of Celtic music with their counterparts in American roots and country, including Vince Gill, Altan, John Prine, Maura O'Connell, Rodney Crowell, Paul Brady, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Sharon Shannon, Alison Brown, Lúnasa, Jim Lauderdale, Pauline Scanlon, Jerry Douglas, John Cowan, Jon Randall, Darrell Scott, Máirtín O'Connor, Ciaran Tourish, Blue Merle, The Duhks, Danu, Mindy Smith, Solas, Tim O'Brien, and more.
Kudos to Compass Records and organizers John Cutliffe and Andrea Zonn for a most worthwhile project.
Many public television stations across the U.S. have been and continue to be responsible for helping to create a huge interest in Irish dance and Celtic music, including WLIW 21 of New York. We applaud their programming choices, particularly during the month of March, when it seems everyone is on high alert for "Celtic culture." Check WLIW or your local PBS stations to see specials like Celtic Roots Festival; Live Concert of the Greatest Irish Artists: Gael Force; The Corrs: Live in Geneva; Daniel O'Donnell: The Rock 'n Roll Show; Frank Patterson: Ireland's Greatest Tenor - Ireland in Song; Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks "Rain, Rain, Go Away" celebrating St. Patrick's Day; Spirit of the Emerald Isle; and PATRICK: A dramatic portrait of one of the best-loved and least-understood icons of world religion, St. Patrick, featuring narration by Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne as the voice of Patrick, and commentary by author Frank McCourt.
Please pledge support for your local public radio and television stations and these wonderful programs. Click here to go to WLIW.org to learn more!
Olive Hurley's videos "Irish Dancing Step by Step" Vol. 1 & 2 have helped thousands of Irish dancers around the globe perfect those steps!
Now available on DVD, they're great for everyone, and especially fun for those of us who aren't Irish dancers, but admire the talented performers in the Irish dance shows we love, and wouldn't mind learning a few steps in our own living rooms!
Click on the image above to learn more about the premier Irish dance instructional tapes at Olive's own site LearnIrishDancing.com.
Click here to go directly to the page which offers sound and video clips of the new DVDs, or click here for our Celtic Cafe feature about this marvelous woman!
Gwenno Saunders has many fans at the Celtic Cafe due to her days travelling the world in Lord of the Dance. Now she's traded in her high kicks for high notes, launching her musical career with Sain Records of Wales. And CoverDriveRecords has released a new single with Gwenno's vocals gracing the musical version of Tristan and Isolde -- capturing the essence of this beautiful Cornish legend.
Click here to go to the CoverDriveRecords site!
This new release is a 2-disc set containing 35 tracks spanning from the Chieftains' 4th LP in 1965 through 2002's "Down the Old Plank Road" -- with an amazing line-up of guests!
The Essential Chieftains (RCA Victor/ Legacy/SonyBMG), draws from their output on Columbia in the 1970s, Claddagh in the '80s, and RCA Victor in the '90s and 2000s, as personally selected by original founding member Paddy Moloney, with over a dozen guest stars ranging from James Galway, the Corrs, Carlos Núñez, Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, and Béla Fleck, to Sting, Elvis Costello, Marianne Faithfull, Van Morrison, Alison Krauss, Jackson Browne, the McGarrigles, and many others; compiled by Jerry Rappaport and Paddy Moloney, with scholarly liner notes written by Nashville's Robert K. Oermann.
Click on the image above for more information, and click here to go to the Chieftains' official site, where you can find tour information, including Carnegie Hall on St. Patrick's Day!
Of Cabbages and Kings is the latest release of the band Quagmyre of Toronto, Canada!
You'll encounter the amazing Jon and Nathan Pilatzke, brothers who perform with the Chieftains when they're on tour, and the lovely Cara Butler, who dances up a storm with them!
Feb. 9, 2005 marked the tenth anniversary of the show that put Irish dance on the map -- worldwide! Irish dance and music fans had much to celebrate last March, with a new Riverdance program on public television in the US, a North American tour, and a new Riverdance CD released on March 8!
Click to learn more about the Original Cast Recording Tenth Anniversary Special Edition.
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